''What Alice Found'' is a
Sundance award-winning feature film released in theaters in the United States in 2003 and 2004. The independently made film was the second feature film for writer/director
A. Dean Bell.
Plot
The film is a harrowing coming of age tale about a young woman who flees her poor
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
hometown life to follow her wealthier and socially accepted friend down to college life in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. But her car breaks down on the highway under mysterious circumstances and a middle-aged "snowbird" couple in an RV come to her rescue, offering a ride all the way south. Before too long we're wondering if it wasn't the seemingly good Samaritans who sabotaged her car in the first place. ''What Alice Found'' is a complex story about mothers and daughters and the "haves and have-nots" in American society as Alice is turned into a truck stop prostitute.
Cast
Release
The film was released in theaters in the United States in 2003 and 2004. It was released on home video in the United States in 2004. It has aired on the Sundance Channel, Lifetime Movie Network, IFC, and ABC affiliates across the United States, and on Canal Plus in France.
Critics
''What Alice Found'' was selected by ''The New York Times Stephen Holden as a "Critic's Pick",
and was praised by Kevin Thomas in the ''Los Angeles Times'': "Sweet, suspenseful, funny, poignant and adult.
Judith Ivey
Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for ''Steaming'' (1981) and ''Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several films ...
gives flat-out one of the year's best performances... a terrific showcase for lovely newcomer Emily Grace... an unexpected treat for sophisticated audiences". ''Variety'' had Ms. Ivey as a dark horse Oscar candidate.
Honors and awards
"What Alice Found" was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2003 Deauville Festival of American Cinema by Jury Chair Roman Polanski. The film is held in the collection of the UCLA film archive and the screenplay was invited into the collection at the library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
* 2003 Sundance Film Festival—Special Jury Award
* 2003 Deauville France Festival—Grand Prize
* 2003 Cinema Paradiso Festival (Hawaii) -- Best Feature Film
* 2003 Tribeca Film Festival—Official Selection (competition)
* 2003 Athens International Film Festival—Official Selection (competition)
* Official Selection—Stockholm Film Festival, Denver Stars Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, Bangkok Film Festival
References
External links
* {{imdb title, 0343172, What Alice Found
A. Dean Bellwww.whatalicefound.comrotten tomatoestrailerwww.factoryfilmsnyc.com
2003 films